VOX Box: The Secrets of Level 7
Characters * Blue Beetle * Red Hood * Arsenal * Starfire * Batman Location * Batcave Level 7, Gotham City, NJ * January 31st 2017, 0529 EST VOX Archive * Batman: Booster, stay with Alfred! flapping, rapid footsteps Beetle, you're with me! Batwave, override. Authorization: Batman-June-Two-Six-Slash-October-Three-One. * Blue Beetle: Interesting override code... footsteps, elevator doors opening Can i ask the significance? * Batman: No, you cannot. * Blue Beetle: Understand. chuckle So, uh, where does this elevator go to? * Batman: Just be quiet. you'r here as backup if things go south in here. You're not on a tour of the Batcave... * Arsenal: door opens, hum of supercomputer cooling fans Jason... Your dad's here... elevator door closes * Red Hood: Hey Bruce... Want to tell me what all this is? * Blue Beetle: Wow... whistle This is a... massive network. How much did it cost to build this? Oh... Right... Shutting up now. * Red Hood: Tell me what this is! Why did Heretic want this? Why did he attack us? We deserve to know what this is, Bruce! * Batman: Very well... This was going to be a secure location for me to incarcerate the villains that Arkham couldn't possibly handle, but... But when I lost you, Jason, those plans changed. Joker might have killed you, but I put you in that position Jason... me and those like me: Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow. That is when I realized that if the world had Justice League to protect it, who would protect the world from the Justice League? * Red Hood: I know this, Bruce! You dismantled the JLA after my death, but don't lie to yourself! Bruce Wayne took down the JLA to distance you from Batman, to protect your secret. You did not create all this- whatever this is- for me! You did this for yourself! So, what's on these servers, Bruce? We were attacked for this, so what is it? * Arsenal: Jason... Isn't this obvious? He's got the dirt he needs to bury the League... * Starfire: The dirt? But the Batman does not kill, why would he need the soil for the gra- Oh! You are meaning the secrets of the dark and not the actual dirt? * Batman: I don't have secrets or gossip. I have strategies and tactics that I have created to bring us down. * Red Hood: And did you make one for yourself, Bruce? * Batman: No. * Red Hood: Of course you didn't- * Batman: The Justice League itself is the countermeasure against me going rogue. * Arsenal: And what if you went rogue with the Justice League? Ever think of that? * Batman: I did. That's why I connected an artificial intelligence to this network and made it its caretaker. This AI monitors a number of media channels, intelligence reports, and even the Watchtower logs for any signs of un-heroic behavior. While I am considered in good standing, it sends me daily reports on the League's activities and alerts me to cautionary behavior which I can override or tell the system to act on. If I fell from grace, as it were, then the system chooses a new Administrator. * Red Hood: What makes you qualified for that kind of responsibility? * Batman: Nothing. The system locked me out years ago, Jason. * Red Hood: And who is the caretaker now? * Batman: I don't know, but I trust the program to make the right choice. * Red Hood: Yeah? unholstered, safety mechanism deactivated Well, I don't. * Batman: Don't Jason! Brother is programmed to immediately release all information to an undisclosed new server if its mainframe is compromised. * Arsenal: What did you call it? Brother? As in Big Brother? How Orwellian of you, Bruce... * Red Hood: I'm tired of you acting like your expletive don't stink, Bruce. Come on, Roy... Kori. We're done here... and so is he. The Justice League will hear of this, Bruce. Trivia and Notes * Story continues from VOX Box: Rise of the Outlaws. * Story continues in VOX Box: The Many Kinds of Beef. * The debut of Brother Eye. * Batman's override code is Jason's date of death. Links and References * VOX Box: The Secrets of Level 7 Category:VOX Box Category:Ted Kord/Appearances Category:Jason Todd/Appearances Category:Roy Harper/Appearances Category:Koriand'r/Appearances Category:Bruce Wayne/Appearances Category:Justice League/Appearances Category:Outsiders/Appearances Category:Batcave/Appearances Category:Gotham City/Appearances